The allegation has since been generating controversy on social media, with many expressing mixed views on the matter.
The Acting Chairman of Rivers State African Action Congress (AAC), Nenye Kocha, on Thursday dismissed rumours making the rounds in some quarters that he had been suspended.
Victor Akpati and Henry Amirize, two members of the Rivers State AAC, had said that Kocha was suspended over alleged misconduct.
The allegation has since been generating controversy on social media, with many expressing mixed views on the matter.
But in a statement on Thursday, Kocha dismissed his alleged suspension and trial, while calling on the public to disregard such claims.
The state's AAC acting chairman wondered how he would be suspended "without passing through the organs of the State Party Exco as explicitly provided for in the spirit and letters of the extant AAC constitution Chapter 10, 76(4) issued August 2018."
Kocha called on Amirize and Akpati to turn over a new leaf, adding that the state as well as "the National Working Committees of AAC can rest assured that there will be no reprisals from this failed mission to break the party in Rivers State".
The statement reads: "The attention of the Acting Chair of Rivers State African Action Congress (AAC), Dr Nenye Kocha, has been drawn to some surreptitious social media posts by one Comrade Victor Akpati and his distant relative, Henry Amirize, both members of Rivers State AAC, acting for themselves and by themselves, purporting a sequence of ‘allegations, mock trial and alleged suspension’ of the Acting State Chair without passing through the organs of the State Party Exco as explicitly provided for in the spirit and letters of the extant AAC constitution Chapter 10, 76(4) issued August 2018.
"This indeed is the reality of the extent of impunity that the poor understanding of some of our hapless comrades have tended to tar our beloved party with. As is trite law, you cannot build something on nothing. So, it is evident that a faulty foundation imperils its structure, however seemingly imposing. Regardless, because of the cause of social justice and equal rights' opportunity that our convener, Omoyele Stephen Sowore, champions, which brought us all into this AAC family, it will be fair to present some facts in order not to tow the uninformed lines of these comrades.
"At no time did these issues arise in the meeting of the organs of the party. At least, the State Chair, legal adviser, amongst other comrades being statutory members of the party ought to be in the know.
"The last meeting of the expanded Exco of the meeting on December 24, 2020 had Henry Amirize (State Auditor) in attendance. Victor Akpati (Acting State Secretary) was absent without permission. In fact, he also failed to convene the meeting after agreement with the state chair.
"All the letters flying in the social media were never ever served on the state chair to whom they were purported to be for. Indeed, it took Comrade Alex, Ondo State Chair, to forward me soft copies of the letters. Indeed, it will be a travesty and tyranny of unimaginable proportions to be a judge in one’s case without the least benefit of the doubt, being fair hearing.”
He continued, "To allege as it was stated in one of the documents that an academic/faculty board placement of a duly member of the party with a doctorate degree and over 18 years cognate industry experience, is because of his role in the party, is to say the least, insulting. It is common knowledge that our Convener, Omoyele Sowore, amongst other hard-working comrades, occupy various academic positions in prestigious universities around the world.
The electoral act specifies that electoral offenders are liable to possible prosecution. If in the course of the 2019 Rivers State governorship election tribunal hearings, the party's candidate, Bio Awara, testifying under oath, alleges that the party's agent in the person of Comrade Nenye Kocha was an impostor and a non-party member, and the tribunal issues a subpoena via writ of summons on Comrade Nenye Kocha, are these comrades insinuating that the summons be ignored and the comrade risk the potential of being marked as wrongly alleged by Awara and face possible future prosecution?
"The truth is that both Awara and Victor Akpati, being governorship and House of Assembly candidates involved in the clandestine APC adoption saga, felt their personal interests equate to AAC interest. It is important to state here as Omoyele Sowore stated in his published interview that these candidates, being party members, do not necessarily mean that one should support 'wuruwuru' in order to win an election at all costs. The ideals of AAC as a reform party are bigger than such shenanigans.
"Finally, to harbour grievance(s) and indeed ventilate such, using duly approved channels in the party is an inalienable right of every member. We are only stuck as it were in this altercation because these comrades side-tracked due process and resorted to self-help.
"It is equally important to highlight that someone like the present Acting State Chair donated his personal building as office space (before Chief Alalibo subsequently offered his personal office after he became HOA candidate), contributed his personal funds to run the party from inception in 2018 at a time he was neither the state chair nor a candidate. Everything cannot be about what we can get from the AAC but what we can offer to redeem Nigeria from its descent into anomie and a state of failure."